Buckling of nanobeams under nonuniform temperature based on nonlocal thermoelasticity

Buckling analysis of nanobeam is significantly important for design of nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS), especially for those under non-uniform temperature induced commonly by the operation of NEMS. In this work, such issue is investigated with the aids of size-dependent model, i.e. nonlocal thermoelasticity, and size effect of heat conduction on buckling property is considered for the first time. Euler-Bernoulli beam is adopted and reformulated within nonlocal theory. Analytical solution to critical load for various boundary conditions, e.g. SS, CF, CS and CC, is obtained using eigenvalue method. And the temperature distribution is determined using nonlocal heat conductive law. The effect of elastic and thermal nonlocal parameter on the critical load is systematically discussed. It is observed that classical models over-predict the critical load, which may be dangerous in practical applications. The present work is expected to be helpful for design of nanobeam-based devices and systems.